Yahoo’s Q&A community will be permanently closed.
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Editor’s note: From May 4, 2021, Yahoo Answers will be permanently closed. At its peak, this question-and-answer platform had 200 million users and 15 million daily active users. It was once considered one of the most popular question-and-answer websites in the world. Netizens who were active at that time might not have thought that this website would quietly exit in 16 years. In the letter from Yahoo Answers to users, it was clearly stated that the website was closed because it “cannot keep up with changes in user needs”-indeed, Yahoo Answers, which is full of naive and funny questions, does not have much capital and emerging communities such as Quora and Reddit. The First World War. The tortuous fate of Yahoo Answers seems to reflect the embarrassing fate of Yahoo, an Internet giant that was once in the limelight, in the mobile era. Where will Yahoo go in the next ten years? This article is compiled from “The New York Times”, author Daniel Victor, original title Yahoo Answers, a Haven for the Confused, Is Shutting Down, hope to inspire you.
In Yahoo Answers, some of the questions people ask strangers seem to be exploring the limits of human curiosity:
What is the elephant’s paradise like? Should scientists put bones on octopuses?
It helps people find themselves: Why do people who eat baguette think they are more advanced? Can I include the popularity of high school in my resume?
Some people are looking for answers to inexplicable questions: Why is my belly button smoking? Why are everything in my grandma’s house damp?
There are still some questions that may never be answered: What is it like to hug?
A few days ago, Yahoo, a subsidiary of Verizon, announced that it will permanently close its question-and-answer service since 2005 and delete the archive on May 4, 2021. This website will definitely be remembered by netizens-not because of its contribution to human knowledge, but because of the joy it brings to people.
What’s more unkind is that BuzzFeed News called it “one of the stupidest places on the Internet”; Vulture even stated that “There are aliens pretending to be humans on earth everywhere. If he is your neighbor, you I would rather climb down the fire escape in a snowstorm than talk to him.”
There is enough evidence to support this position-netizens keep asking all kinds of stupid questions: I can put GuAre shers gummy squeezed into juice? What should I do if I forgot the interview time? What kind of animal is Sonic in “Sonic Boy”? Is this Yahoo email?
One of the most famous questions was asked by a netizen who “knows little about biology and spelling”: How was baby (baby) born?
I don’t know how many questions are really out of ignorance and curiosity, and how many are deliberate provocations. In short, answering these questions does not require any professional knowledge. But some people, including children, apparently believe that Yahoo Answers provides a comfortable space for them to ask questions that they have never dared to ask friends, family, and teachers—sometimes that may still be quite important.
“Yahoo Answers allows people to ask questions they are embarrassed to ask in real life,” said Justin McElroy, co-host of the comedy podcast “My Brother, My Brother and Me”, “no matter how weird, stupid, or crazy If you ask questions, you can find a place in Yahoo Q&A.”
Drew Davenport, 34, lives in Camarillo, California. He has spent seven years filtering questions from Yahoo Answers and used them as material for podcasts. Davenport said that people have said that the real purpose of using Yahoo Q&A is to get through the difficulties encountered in school, or to receive sex education that is not available elsewhere, but this does not mean that all problems can be obtained. Good answer.
“Do you remember the beautiful vision of people before the Internet completely penetrated the world?” He asked, “We had expected the Internet to be a place for free exchange of ideas… But Yahoo Q&A showed us something terrible and true Possibility.”
In recent years, Yahoo Answers has lost widespread popularity and faces countless competitors: Quora positions itself as a more tasteful and professional elite community; Reddit forums allow people to express their opinions freely. In a letter to users, Yahoo stated that it has “decided to transfer our resources from Yahoo Q&A to products that can better serve users, and to fulfill Yahoo’s commitment to provide quality and credible content.”
Yahoo Answers will stop service on April 20th, and stop users’ access to content on May 4th.
This is not the first time that Yahoo and other technology companies have completely eliminated once popular products. In 2019, Yahoo announced that it would permanently close the Yahoo Groups (Yahoo Groups) that has been in operation for 20 years; and Flickr also this year Deleted the 15-year photo archive.
McElroy said that after losing the important “source” of Yahoo Q&A, he is not sure whether this podcast will continue to operate. He said that since the show started in 2010, they have been usingYahoo Answers to supplement the show material. Although some of these questions made him feel “a kind of performance art”, and others = “seems to be exposing the lower limit of IQ”, he expressed his sympathy for many people who asked questions. “We all have some unspeakable problems in our hearts,” he said. “When you think that no one feels weird about this, you may get into trouble because people feel strange about many things, and human curiosity and Ignorance should not be restricted.”
Although Yahoo is determined to delete the data on these issues, interested netizens have kept some precious records.
Here are McElroy’s podcasts a small selection of over 1,700 questions:
Will soldiers in the War of Independence take off their shirts or jackets in battle?
How many calories are in a bar of soap?
What if one day cows start to fight back against humans?
Does the plane fly fast or slow?
How can I cut a hairstyle similar to Joseph Stalin without showing the girl who cut my hair?
I accidentally ate the “do not eat” small bag in the shoe box, will I die?
In the TV series “Friends”, what is the significance of Ross’s existence?
Why have I never seen a toucan?
My friend and I both applied for the same position as Papa John. He got the job but I didn’t. Can I sue Papa John?
I accidentally switched the input method to uppercase, how can I switch to lowercase? Otherwise I cannot enter the correct password.
What do Canadians generally download from the Internet?
How do you eat hot dogs?
What is the most nutritious part of an apple?
Why do New Jersey people wear jeans skiing?
Should pasta become shorter?
How to make your parents think that the lizard you bought from the Internet was accidentally discovered by you?
Why are there no rides in the Grand Canyon?
Why can’t we plant burgers on trees?
Do you know that we have become the laughing stock on the Internet?
Did anyone have sex in the 1990s? Is there any difference from now?
Why do I like space and dinosaurs? Can I bring frozen pizza with me?
Do dragons live before, after, or at the same time as dinosaurs?
I carry my guitar anytime and anywhere to attract girls. Is this feasible?
The Christmas gift my boyfriend gave me was 60 boxes of waffles. He looked very excited, but I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. What should I do?
How old do I need to get a nunchaku?
I kissed a man a year ago. Will I still have his saliva in my mouth now?
Is Eddie in “Frasier” a real dog or a computer-generated one?
How did the people at Jeopardy (a quiz show) know the answer?
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